Of Broken Hearts and Stupid Smarts
by 9r7g5h
Summary: They had both had their hearts ripped in two. Perhaps, together, they could make a whole one.


**AN:** My first Legend of Zelda fanfict! You know, I can't help but feel bad for Peatrice in Skyward Sword. Even though it's obvious that Link and Zelda are destined to be together, you can still play with Peatrice's heart and say you love her. So, here's to the pairing of Peatrice and Groose, just so everyone can have their happy ending.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Legend of Zelda. Nintendo does.

* * *

A soft, sad smile crossed Groose's face as he wandered through the streets of Skyloft, watching as the overturned anthill of people tried to adjust to the new reality that was their lives.

Although it had only been a few days since the clouds that had formerly been their barrier had cleared and he had returned with the news that Link and Zelda were planning to build their own city on the ground, a place where everyone would be welcome, already the turn of events was tearing at the few families that remained on Skyloft. A good portion of the people, such as most of the upper knights and Kukiel's father, thought it was their duty to descend to the ground to help reclaim and build a new home on the face of the earth. Others, most likely those who would remain until after the city was built, were fearful of leaving the only home they had ever known for an unknown clearing Link had found during his travels that was situated directly between the forest, the desert, and the mountain, the three most dangerous places they had ever heard of. They were also unwilling to be parted from their loftwings, the one constant companion in their lives, though it was clear that the birds wished to follow their missing unbound kin. Within hours of the clouds clearing to reveal the world below, the wild loftwings had disappeared over the horizon, returning to whatever had been their homeland before the goddess had asked them to help her humans, most likely never again to be seen.  
In all honesty, Groose couldn't wait to leave, because now he knew the truth.

Before he had returned to Skyloft, he had sat down and had a nice long talk with the Headmaster, using the old man's distress over Zelda's fate against him to get him to talk. It wasn't the nicest way to do things, but at the time he hadn't cared. He had been after answers, and Hylia damn him if he wasn't going to get them.

It turned out that the answers he had been looking for were more then he had wanted, for it turned out the Skyloft was dying.

Although he had not been alive long enough to notice it, listening to the headmaster talk, it was clear just how bad of a state Skyloft was in. Pumpkin harvest after pumpkin harvest had been growing smaller and smaller for years if they hadn't just failed completely, the soil they grew in overworked and infertile after thousands of years of use. The waterfall that was their main source of clean water had been growing slower and thinner each generation the magic the goddess had instilled within it was used, threatening to one day run dry. Monsters, although absent at night over the past few days, had been growing bolder and bolder with each passing year, forcing more and more of their knights to spend their nights fighting against creatures they could never win. If humans ever wanted a chance to survive, they would have to make their stand on the ground.

Dodging a knight as she rushed passed him on her way towards the light tower, her arms filled with wrapped packages that would be making their way down on the first supply delivery, Groose's smile slid into a frown as a noise reached his pointed ears. Turning towards the house it was coming from, he cautiously approached the door the sound was leaking out from under, his natural curiosity pulling him closer. Pressing his ear to the wooden barrier just as the voice that had been speaking, for it had to be a voice if it was coming from a house, he was just about to leave, figuring it was another married couple arguing about when or whether they were leaving Skyloft, when another scream and the sound of shattering pottery found him tearing open the door to help.

The sight that finally registered within his mind was not quite what he expected. Instead of an unset couple that needed to be broken apart before somebody got hurt, there was only the crying Storage girl and the broken pot she had obviously thrown at the wall.

"Hey, are you okay," Groose slowly asked as he shut the door behind him and carefully maneuvered around the pieces of broken pottery, his eyes darting around the house to make sure that there were no more weapons within her reach. "Peatrice, is it? Why don't you tell ol' Groosey here what's wrong, and I'll see if I can make it better for a pretty little lady like you." Finally reaching the crying young woman, Groose could only watch and try to listen as she sobbed her story to him.

"He lied to me," Peatrice wailed as she flopped onto the chair next to her, her hands coming up to cover her face. "He said he loved me, but he really only loved her. The damn bastard led me on, and didn't even have the decency to break it off to my face before he got together with her. It was all a lie." An uncomfortable silence fell between them as Groose worked his way through Peatrice's words, a heavy stone settling in his stomach as he slowly realized who she meant. It had been no secret that Link had spent part of his time whenever he was in Skyloft talking to the girl who was crying before him, but no one had ever thought anything of it since it had always been clear that the only woman on his mind had been Zelda.

Apparently, not everyone had gotten the message.

Gritting his teeth to keep his thoughts about the green wearing man to himself, though he mentally made a vow that if this turned out to anything more then a misunderstanding, then he was dead, Groose slowly reached out drag Peatrice's hands away from her face. His time with Granny had taught him a lot about both himself and other people, but most importantly, it had forced him to rethink the feelings he had thought he had held for Zelda. Although he was still sure that he was in love with her, a fact that squeezed at the mangled ruins that had once been his heart each time he thought about it, it had become clear during his time in the temple that the woman he loved could never be his. Even if he had been the hero that was destined to save her, Link had always been the one she was fated to fall for, something he had accepted, even if he didn't like. Perhaps Peatrice was in the same boat as he had been, an unrequited love twisted to seem mutual.

Perhaps, he could help.

"Hey, don't think about it like that," Groose said softly, the words soothing and caring as he made them up on the spot. "I'm sure Link really did like you at the time, a lot, but then things just happened and now he has to be with Zelda. The two of them, they were born to be together, so they can't be with the people they really want to be with. I bet, every time he's with Zelda, Link wishes it was you." A blatant lie, for Groose knew just how deeply the warrior felt for reborn goddess, but considering her tears weren't falling quite as fast as before, he felt no shame in telling it. "From what I could get out of that whole mess, the two of them were together in a past life, she as the Goddess and he as her chosen Hero. Now that they're reborn, they have to be together for everything to be right. Link knows this, but the idea of telling you just broke his heart too much for him to bare, so he had to let you know by staying with Zelda and never coming back to Skyloft."

"You think so," Peatrice sniffed as she dried her eyes of their last few remaining tears, the look on her face thoughtful instead of devastated. "You really, truly, think that's the case?"  
"Hasn't anybody told you," Groose asked as he clasped her hands between his, a smile on his face. "I'm the amazing Groose, and I don't think. I just know."

Amazingly, that drew a soft laugh from Peatrice as slightly slumped over so she was leaning on the table, a small smile making its way across her own face as she looked at him. Surprisingly, Groose found himself examining her with the same intensity that she did him, finally seeing her for the first time, though he had known her for his entire life. She was a pretty girl, he had to admit, with long, dirty blonde hair and perfectly pink lips. Some, including him in the past, might point out that her face was strangely long and her chin pointed, but now he couldn't help but thing that they suited her. When she wasn't frowning all the time, one could see the 'delicate little flower' her father always raved about, though there was also a steel within her that threaten a sword should she get riled.

She was no Zelda, but at that moment, Groose couldn't care less.

That moment was ruined as a frown once more covered her face, a soft sigh breaking from her lips as she drew her hands from his to rest in her lap. "Even if what you say is true, which I doubt it is, since I've known for a while that Link's feeling for me have only been as friends, though I couldn't bring myself to admit it since he did seem interested in me, what do you suggest I do? There is no way I could live in the same town as him, watch him with her, while I'm still in love with him. There's no way I could stay in Skyloft, not since everyone's leaving, but there'll be no place for me in the new town." Resting her chin in the palm of her hand, another sigh left her lips as she began to contemplate her future.

"You know," Groose began slowly, part of his mind wondering why he was doing this while the other knew perfectly well just how crazy he was, "you don't have to live in the city. I'm not." And as soon as he said it, he knew it was true. Although he had every intention of leaving Skyloft, he had never had any plans on settling back into routine now that he knew what was out there. "Link told me all about the adventures he has had, all about the creatures in the forest and in the desert and on the mountain. I plan on exploring those things for myself, on having my own adventure before I settle down somewhere. Maybe it'll be in the city, or maybe it'll be on a farm no where near it. Either way, it'll be years before I live somewhere permanently. Perhaps, if you want to, for a while, just until you figure out what you want to do, you could come with me."

For a long while neither of them said anything as Peatrice thought about what Groose had said, her mind twisting and twirling behind her carefully blank eyes. He could feel his heart pounding within his chest as he waited, his mind blank of anything thoughts as he stared into her eyes, this new, irrational hope that this girl he barely knew would accept his proposal for the adventure of a lifetime.

"You know what Groose," Peatrice said slowly as she finally answered him, "I think i would like that."

In all truthfulness, Groose would never be able to pinpoint what exactly had possessed him that day, but whatever it was, he would someday be able to say that he was thankful it did.

Because who needed Zelda when he had Peatrice?


End file.
